CULTURE & HERITAGENEWSLETTER

What’s New in August?

AUGUST 2014

100th Anniversary Commemoration of the War Measures Act & Canada’s First World War Internment Operations, August 22

On Friday, August 22 2014, Nanaimo will be the final stop of a coast-to-coast plaque unveiling project recalling the 100th anniversary of the War Measures Act (enacted August 22, 1914) and the start of Canada’s WWI internment operations.

Between 1914 and 1920, over 8000 Ukrainian Canadians and other east Europeans were imprisoned in 24 interment camps across Canada (including one in Nanaimo), simply because of where they came from. Across Canada, 100 plaques will be installed in Ukrainian Canadian venues as well as in centres associated with the German, Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian and Armenian communities, which were also harmed by the state-sanctioned censures imposed on “enemy aliens” during the First World War.

The local Ukrainian community and the City of Nanaimo will unveil two plaques commemorating this little known chapter in Canada’s history. The unveiling will take place Friday August 22, 2014 at St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church (4017 Victoria Avenue in Nanaimo -- off Norwell Drive) at 10:45 am, following a church service at 9:30 am. Everyone is welcome to attend. View a detailed ceremony timeline at http://bit.ly/1zU1dd9.

More information about Canada’s first internment operations of 1914-1920 can be found at www.internmentcanada.ca.

Culture & Heritage. It’s who we are.

Nanaimo Fringe Festival, August 14-24The 4th annual Nanaimo Fringe Festival features eight plays (August 14-17, 21-24) at Harbour City Theatre (25 Victoria Road) and Nanaimo Museum (100 Museum Way). Fringe is powered by volunteer and sponsor support, shaped by the energy and creativity of our community. Beyond the plays, the festival fosters dialogue and collaboration.

Nanaimo Fringe Festival is a non-profit community arts event that connects our city to the thriving circuit of Fringe Festivals, which attracts touring artists from around the globe and sweeps across Canada from Montreal to Vancouver every summer. In addition to drawing touring artists to Nanaimo, half of our schedule is reserved for local artists. Shows are selected by lottery, creating a lineup that is uncensored and unexpected.

For a list of full show descriptions, schedules, tickets and opportunities to get involved, visit www.nanaimofringe.com.

Nanaimo Art Gallery’s ‘Black Diamond Dust’September 20 to December 13 Black Diamond Dust is a multi-site art exhibition which considers the sedimentary nature of stories and histories. The title ‘Black Diamond Dust’ refers to the coal mining industry that Nanaimo was built upon; an industry that both formed and fragmented communities through economic development, racial segregation and labour inequity, and served as the foundation of global industrialization.

The artists in Black Diamond Dust look toward forgotten or under-acknowledged histories, while considering both local contexts and the forms of cultural expression that surround global industrial practices. These artworks will be shown alongside historical artifacts borrowed from the Nanaimo Museum and the Nanaimo Archives. In addition, the gallery will screen three video works that look to past and present miners’ struggles in other parts of the world.

The material traces of industry, not only continue to produce the built environment and the objects within it, but also inform the cultural identities of communities that were built on resource-based economies. Through art, Black Diamond Dust enters into a creative dialogue with Nanaimo’s industrial past. Exhibition curated by Jesse Birch.

Opening at both Nanaimo Art Gallery locations on September 19:

• 4:00 - 6:00 pm at the Campus Gallery (900 Fifth Street)• 7:00 - 10:00 pm at the Downtown Gallery (150 Commercial Street)

In August, Nanaimo Art Gallery will begin hosting a series of artist residencies in the Brick Miners Cottage (1904 Jinglepot Road) at Buttertubs Marsh. The first three residencies (in relation to Black Diamond Dust) are as follows :

• August 12-19 Vancouver based painter Stephanie Aitken• September 6-19 Glasgow based artist Scott Rogers • October 1-15 Nanaimo based poet, writer and photographer Peter Culley

For more information on Black Diamond Dust, visit http://bit.ly/1saBPeI or contact the Nanaimo Art Gallery. The use of the cottage is made possible through a partnership with the Culture and Heritage Department.

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Culture & Heritage. It’s who we are.

About the Brick Miners Cottage (1904 Jinglepot Road)The Brick Cottage is an excellent example of a community preservation project. Built around 1910 as an office or storage building for a minor local coal company, the small rectangular building and grounds were converted into a residence and small farmstead in the 1920s by the Specogna Family. Over time, a frame addition and concrete milk house were added to the rear. In 1999, as part of a community preservation project, the original modest, brick building, minus the addition and milk house, was relocated to its current location on Jinglepot Road to accommodate road construction. The building is currently owned by the municipality and used as an environmental and historical interpretation centre for the adjoining park.

The grounds surrounding the Brick Cottage are an integral part of the site and are an excellent example of a recreated landscape that reflects the building’s original context. The original site featured several agricultural out buildings, extensive flower

and vegetable gardens and an orchard. Many of these elements were recreated on the new site, including a grape arbour and other appropriate plantings and hard landscape features. The Cottage’s primary value resides in its location adjacent to a popular park, readily accessible to the public as an educational and interpretive venue.

Find information like this on the City’s Heritage Register online at http://www.nanaimo.ca/Heritage/search.aspx.

(Photo Credit: Peter Culley, Untitled, 2012, colour photograph from the exhibition Black Diamond Dust)

Present Day Photo of Brick Miners Cottage at 1904 Jinglepot Road

The Specogna Family (Photo Credit: Nanaimo Community Archives Collection)

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Culture & Heritage. It’s who we are.

Wednesday Evenings in August @ Maffeo Sutton Park 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

August 6 John Pippus & Aynsley Leonard: This Vancouver-based duo plays soulful folk and blues music.

August 13 Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra: This acoustic ensemble has a unique sound that draws on flamenco, African percussion, bluegrass and more.

August 20 Drs of Rock ‘n Roll: Enjoy the tunes from the 50s, 60s and 70s, including hits from Buddy Holly and Creedence Clearwater Revival to name a few.

August 27 Glen Foster Group: Their vast catalog of music includes intricate finger-picking tunes, R&B, pop and exploratory eclectic rock and roll.

For more information, visit Parks, Recreation & Environment at http://www.nanaimo.ca/EN/main/departments/parks-recreation-culture/CommunityEventsPlanning.html.

Tuesday Afternoons in August @ Maffeo Sutton Park from 12:30 to 1:30 pm

August 5 Nice Verdes: This music is uplifting and sunny with a fresh approach to original world folk music using combinations of accordions, ukulele, dolak, guitar, stomp box, vocals and more.

August 12 The Chris Von Band: Playing a mix of rock, swing and even some Beatles tunes, spectators will be carried away in a show that will have everyone grooving and singing along.

August 19 Bobbi Schram: An experienced musician and entertainer, Bobbi blends classical piano with mellow lyrics. Her style is easy listening, soft, ballad-type songs that tell a story through her mesmerizing voice.

August 26 Melissa Hill Trio: Jazz, pop, reggae and original music by singer-songwriter, Melissa Hall. She is a rising talent on the Canadian music scene. Come for an unforgettable musical experience. This concert sponsored by Origin Active Lifestyle Communities.

FREE!

Concerts in the ParkBring a lawn chair and a picnic while enjoying some great entertainment for the whole family in two of Nanaimo’s most beautiful and popular parks. What could be better?

Thank you to the participants and sponsors of this year’s Heritage Paint Out / Shoot Out!Here’s a peek at some of the masterpieces created during this annual plein-air painting and photography event. For more information, please contact the Nanaimo Arts Council at http://www.nanaimoartscouncil.ca.

Nanaimo’s Poet Laureate - Schedule

The purpose of a Poet Laureate for Nanaimo is to serve as a “people’s poet” and to raise awareness of poetry and the literary arts and the positive impact literature and poetry can have on community life. At the Nanaimo City Council meeting held October 2013 Council approved Naomi Beth Wakan as Nanaimo’s first Poet Laureate.

Find Naomi at one of her upcoming events, or online at www.nanaimo.ca/goto/poetry.

August 10 Reading at Hazelwood FarmAugust 15 Reading at Vancouver Island Exhibition

Calling All Poets - Monthly Poetry Column

July’s Poem of the Month (see left) has been selected, and here’s why:

Written by Naomi Beth Wakan for the Nanaimo Daily News: Both I, and the selection committee, loved this poem. It’s on target and inventive. I can hardly do better than quote their reasons for selecting it as the poem for July, for I share them completely. They liked the contrasting moods conjured up by pairing “childlike delight” and “coal dust underfoot,” and the earlier contrast between “youthful aura” and “aged buildings.” They enjoyed the “swashbuckling” feeling of the poem that suggests swagger and adventure. They commented on the mention of our “storybook-pirate fantasy,” our arty banners that many visitors remark upon, our bathtub races, and our twin cannon salutes, all of which are special characteristics Nanaimo residents will likely recognize with pleasure. I really loved the last image of Nanaimo playfully splashing us, (as children might splash each other in a pool) because, for a moment, this poem helps us forget the economic and other worries a city has to deal with, and reminds us that Nanaimo is a waterfront city in a beautiful setting and, if we can occasionally remember our childhood excitement of exploration and discovery, is a fun place to be. This is such a jaunty, upbeat poem that it can’t help but lift our spirits.

Want to submit a poem? The rules are simple. 1. You should be a resident of the Greater Nanaimo area;

2. the poem should be solely written by you;

3. the poem must be about Nanaimo (places and events – its past, present, future, places you like visiting, the cultural aspects, sports… whatever inspires you) and should be no more than 30 lines (200 words); and

4. the poems can be touching, funny, insightful, bitingly witty or angry, but will not be considered if they contain obscenities or promote hatred or prejudice.

E-mail two copies of your poem as a .pdf attachment (in Times New Roman, 12 point). One copy should have your name, address, e-mail, and phone # written above the poem; the other should contain only the poem.

Send them to callingallpoets@nanaimo.ca with the words “poetry submission” in the subject line. There is no deadline, so just keep those Nanaimo poems coming in whenever creativity strikes.

So calling all Nanaimo poets – Let’s celebrate poetry. Let’s hear your voices. Get creative about Nanaimo and send us your results. More at www.nanaimo.ca/goto/poetry.

Poem of the Month.

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Pirate Girl by Beth Skala

She is a smallish city,

constrained by mountains and sea.

Most days her face is clear,

scrubbed fresh by native forests,

her aura thus youthful,

despite aged buildings.

She wears a sailor hat

jauntily on her streets,

charming us with

her storybook-pirate fantasy,

evident in her statues

and waving banners.

We watch her play,

so endearing,

as she launches bathtubs

across her harbour,

fires a salute from her twin cannon,

chases seagulls along the quay.

Seeing her childlike delight,

we forget the coal dust underfoot,

the hustle of daily business,

the stress of responsibilities,

becoming young ourselves

as Nanaimo playfully splashes us.

Culture & Heritage. It’s who we are.

Naomi giving a reading at the grand opening of the Hammond Bay Road Library (Photo Credit: HA Photography)

We’re still seeking groups interested in participating in PARK(ing) Day, September 19The City of Nanaimo’s Culture and Heritage Department is looking for interested organizations, groups or friends, interested in being involved in the 2014 PARK(ing) Day event on September 19, 2014.

PARK(ing) Day is a annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public cultural places.

Nanaimo’s 2014 PARK(ing) Day will be held on September 19, 2014 along Commercial Street and will convert a limited number of select parking spaces into temporary very short term mini parks.

Want to create an exciting cultural space? Spots are limited so please contact us today!

Culture Days - September 25, 26, 27Everyone is encouraged to get involved – whether you are a professional or amateur cultural creator (artist, artisan, educator, animateur, historian, curator, choreographer, architect, designer, to name a few), municipality, library, group or organization in an urban, suburban or rural community – you can play a part in Culture Days.

This is an open invitation for all individuals, organizations, groups and municipalities to register free interactive arts or cultural activities in your community during the next Culture Days on September 26, 27 & 28, 2014. Activities can be really simple as long as they are free; interactive; registered on the Culture Days website.

There is no fee to register. If you want to register a free participatory or interactive arts or cultural activity during the upcoming fifth annual Culture Days weekend, visit www.culturedays.ca register your event today.

Did you receive a Cultural Grant or Events & Festivals Grant in 2014?

This is a reminder that final reports must be completed and submitted prior to applying for 2015 funding. Funding for 2015 is expected to begin in the fall and will be advertised in this newsletter. Stay tuned!

Culture & Heritage. It’s who we are.

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Connect With Us.Our office is open Monday to Friday, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. If you have questions or would like more information, please contact us:

Phone 250-755-4483Email cultureandheritage@nanaimo.caIn Person Service & Resource Centre (411 Dunsmuir Street)By Mail 455 Wallace Street, Nanaimo, BC V9R 5J6